Growing Pains
by ohkami majin
Summary: Atemu is a young prince living the life of luxury. He has everything except for what he really wants, to be just a normal kid.
1. Prologue

A/N: Hey, I'm posting another story! This one is also a YGO, but it isn't a comedy like my other. It takes place in Egyptian times, and while it's different from the show, it may contain spoilers for those who don't want to know. The prologue is pretty short, but the other chapters will for the most part be longer.  
  
Kaz: Ohkami doesn't own Yu-Gi-OH or the pharaoh, although she probably really wants to.  
  
Prologue  
  
The pharaoh waited anxiously in his chamber. Tonight he, Akunamukanon, was going to become a father. He started to pace. It seemed like it had been hours since his wife had gone into labor. The midwives had quickly forced him out of the room, it was forbidden for men to be around at such a time. He was getting very worried. Was it supposed to take this long? This was his first child, so he really didn't know.  
Finally, after what seemed like days of waiting, there was a faint knock on the door. "You may enter." He said, trying to speak with his typical, regal tone, although it was quite difficult to hold back the anxiety and excitement in his voice. The huge golden door opened and one of the midwives entered the room. She was cradling a sleeping baby in her arms. She had her head hung down, but Akunamukanon paid little mind to this, he was used to people humbling themselves like that in his presence. After all, he was the ruler of Egypt.  
  
"Congratulations," she said softly, still keeping her head hung very low, "You're now the father of a beautiful baby boy." It was now that the pharaoh realized something was not right. She didn't sound truly excited and although she tried to smile, he could tell it was only half-hearted.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked her, but he had a sneaking suspicion he didn't really want to know. The midwife picked up her head for the first time since she'd entered the room to reveal tears streaming down her face. "The baby is doing fine, but-" she paused, choking on a sob as she did so, "The queen, she didn't make it."  
That was like a blow to the stomach for Akunamukanon. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She'd been so excited about finally having a child. "Umm...p-pharaoh?" Akunamukanon jumped a little, he'd forgotten that she was still in the room with him. "Yes?" "S-she asked me to tell you...she wanted his name to be A-Atemu." She choked back a sob again, and held out the baby to Akunamukanon, gesturing for him to take him. Akunamukanon did so, gently cradling his new son in his arms. The midwife slowly backed out of the room, figuring the pharaoh would want to be alone. She bowed slightly before turning and leaving, shutting the door quietly behind her. "Then Atemu it is." The pharaoh said softly, mostly to himself. He hugged his son, letting the tears slowly roll down his cheek once he was certain she'd left the room.  
In the shadows his brother, Akunadin, watched him cradling the baby, a look of anger and disgust written on his face. Even though it was dark, his millennium eye glistened. 


	2. Cuddly Kuriboh

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own it.

* * *

Chapter 1: Cuddly Kuriboh  
Simon stomped down the palace halls; poll in hand. He went through this same endeavor everyday now, since the pharaoh had put him in charge of caring for and teaching the prince. He'd said he was the best for the job, which translated to he thought he was a good babysitter.  
Unfortunately, no matter how much of a good babysitter he was, the prince was a brat. He liked to play hooky from his lessons, everyday, so everyday Simon had to go and fish him out of the big pots, which decorated the palace. Today, however, was the last straw. He would take no more of this, he was going to put his foot down and demand that the little brat show him some respect and co-operate. Well, he would do that in the least harmful and emotionally painful way he could, because doing anything to upset the prince would ultimately upset the pharaoh, which wasn't something he intended to do.  
He approached another one of the big pots. He stopped at it; taking the poll he was carrying and jabbing it into the pot. It hit the bottom with a CLANK. 'Hmm, not in this one either.' He thought to himself, continuing down the hall. A few pots later, instead of making a "clank" when he stuck the poll in the pot, it yelled "OWE!" and he knew he'd found the prince.  
Atemu raised himself of the pot, rubbing his spiky head where Simon had hit him with the poll. He looked at Simon, a truly cynical look in his eye, growling under his breath.  
  
"What was that for?" He demanded.  
  
"For disobeying orders, AGAIN, and trying to get out of your lesson. I'm not teaching you all this just to torture you, you know. It was your fathers request that you learn so that-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah so that I'll be ready to claim the throne someday. But I don't even want to be pharaoh."  
  
"That's ridiculous." Simon replied, "And so is the fact that you expect to hide from me in the same place everyday. Couldn't you at least be a little more creative than that?" Simon really didn't know why he was egging the prince on like that. He didn't like the idea of having to search the WHOLE palace for him everyday, but there was just something about Atemu's antics that he couldn't help but find somewhat...cute.  
Atemu giggled, his crimson eyes regaining their typical, mischievous expression. "Well, I don't really need to. After all, look how long it takes you to find me everyday. You knowing where I am just makes it more amusing." Simon couldn't believe that he'd just been very badly insulted by a five year old. He grabbed the now laughing prince, and carried him to the room in which his lesson would finally take place.  
Atemu sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor. His lesson was going as boring as usual. It started with a lecture by Simon during which he did anything but pay attention; twirling his golden bangs or counting the cracks on the stone floor. Today Simon chose to ignore the prince's lack of focus, because he knew that soon enough he would be having no problem holding his interests.  
  
"Now, about today's lesson. I was speaking with your father, and he wishes for you to learn to summon the shadow monsters, so we're going to start right away. Now, this is one of the most difficult forms of shadow magic, so don't get too frustrated if it takes you a while to accomplish anything significant. Hmm, I think an easy monster like kuriboh should be a good start."  
Simon pulled his millennium anhk out from under him tunic. He showed Atemu how to summon one of the monsters using his ka monster, Gaia the fierce knight. Atemu was now giving him his full attention, as Simon knew he would. After the summoning was complete Atemu looked at Simon, confused.  
  
"How did you summon him without a tablet?"  
  
"Gaia is my Ka monster, which means that he's a part of me and I don't need a tablet to summon him. Someday, if you become strong enough you'll probably have a ka monster, too. Of course, yours will be quite different from mine, since as the name suggests it is your ka, and shows your inner self. But for now, you can just use the tablets to summon monsters, why don't you give it a try now?"  
So Atemu did as Simon had shown him and, just as Simon had suspected, managed to summon a kuriboh with no trouble at all. Well, summoning it was no trouble, but getting rid of it was another story. As soon as it was summoned kuriboh pounced on Atemu, cuddling him. "OREE!" it cried, as Atemu let out an oddly similar squeal, trying to wrestle him off. Simon chuckled. "I think he likes you." Atemu growled at Simon, obviously not amused.  
When Atemu left his lesson Kuriboh was still following him. A little ways down the hall he ran into his older cousin, Seto. He excitedly retold the whole story of that day's lesson, in one breath. While he was gasping for air Seto looked over his shoulder to see the kuriboh. It smiled at him, or he assumed that it would have been smiling if it had any mouth.  
  
"What is that?" He asked the smaller boy.  
  
"That's kuriboh. He's the monster that I summoned, but he really likes me for some reason and won't go away now."  
Seto laughed. It was typical for odd things to happen to his little cousin, but this one had to take the cake. He was being loved to death by a giant three-toed fur ball.  
  
Seto smirked, "Well, at least now you don't have to worry about any of the palace cats giving you trouble." A look of anger crossed Atemu's face and he pounced on Seto. A wrestling match ensued. Seto allowed Atemu to get in a few good punches here or there, to make him feel like he was winning. But everyone knew that if it had been a real fight he would have won. At least, that was his opinion.

* * *

Atemu and Seto spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the stable. It was their favorite place to play. It was more peaceful, especially since there weren't tons of people hanging over Atemu's shoulder, stopping him from doing everything because it was "too dangerous" or "not the proper way for a prince to act." He hated it. He sat down on a pile of hay next to his favorite horse, a black Arabian mare. She nuzzled him. Atemu stroked her muzzle, and turned to Seto who had positioned himself on another hay pile next to Atemu's.  
  
"Seto...I don't think I want to be pharaoh." He said grimly.  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
"It's just...because I..." He paused, hanging his head down, "I don't think I can do it Seto." Tears started to stream down his face. It was the first time he'd ever told anyone about that, and it was quite a relief for him to get it off his chest. He choked on a sob. Seto hugged Atemu, trying to comfort him.  
  
"What do you mean you don't think you can do it? Of course you can! You'll be a great pharaoh someday."  
  
Atemu sniffled, "Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I know you will." Seto said, smiling. That seemed to calm Atemu down quite a bit. Then he realized that he hadn't heard anything from his furry friend in a while. He looked around, but didn't see him anywhere.  
  
"Hey! Where did kuriboh go?"  
Atemu jumped up from his seat and started frantically searching the stable. The little guy had been kind of annoying, following him around like that, but it still worried him that he was missing. Seto helped, and after several minutes of search they concluded that he wasn't in the stable.  
  
"Don't worry," Seto assured Atemu, seeing the look on his face, "We'll find him. He's probably somewhere in the palace."  
  
"But I saw him come in here with us earlier. And the palace is huge, how do you expect we find?"  
  
"Well, they always find you, so finding him can't be much harder. A giant hairball ought to stick out."  
They retraced their steps several times, but couldn't find kuriboh anywhere. Atemu slumped down onto the floor. How was he supposed to explaining loosing kuriboh to Simon? He figured it was the last time that he'd ever get to summon a shadow monster. Then, a tall boy came running down the hall. He had an irritated look on his face, and his silky, blonde hair was going in just about every direction. He never seemed to have it tidied. The boy was Mahaado, the thirteen-year-old apprentice of the priest of the millennium ring. Atemu admired Mahaado; he was like his role model. Mahaado was always very nice with him; he didn't care that Atemu was a little kid compared to him, although he'd never show it to the other boys in the palace. He looked at Atemu with a face that said he was ready to kill.  
  
"What's wrong?" Atemu asked him.  
  
"Loose something?" He returned, pointing over his shoulder. Atemu giggled, Mahaado had found kuriboh, and kuriboh seemed to like him as much as he liked Atemu. He cuddled Mahaado's face; Mahaado cringed and looked back to Atemu. "Just get rid of it."  
  
Atemu sighed. He'd really gotten to like kuriboh, but he knew he couldn't stay forever anyway. "Ok kuriboh, its time for you to go home now." He was about to go find Simon to ask how to return kuriboh to the shadow realm when he disappeared on his own.

* * *

R&R? Please? 


	3. The Ka Monster

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it again?

A/N: This took a little longer than I expected to get up on the site. Fact is I kind of kept forgetting to update it ;. So, here it is now, chapter two!

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Chapter 2: The Ka Monster 

"...You're being ridiculous, Akunadin." Akunamukanon said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His younger brother was really beginning to give him a headache. He'd grown awful argumentative since Atemu had been born. Not that Akunamukanon didn't know why; Akunadin had been the heir to the thrown before Atemu. Of course, that didn't give him the right to blame all of the world's problems on him.

"But my liege, so far he fulfills every part of the prophecy. What if he is the child the prophecy speaks of, then someday he could be a real threat."

"Just because Atemu may inherit incredible power someday, it doesn't mean he'll do evil things with it. He could just as easily use his power to save the world. There's no way to know for sure, but that doesn't give us any reason to fear him. Or kill him for that matter."

"But my lord. Please-"

"You are dismissed, Akunadin." Akunadin bowed slightly, although Akunamukanon could tell he meant no respect to him, and turned to leave, muttering and grumbling under his breath.

Simon stomped down the hall once again, starting to get irritated that he was getting so used to this routine. It was time for another of Atemu's lesson, and once again he'd gone AWOL. This time, Simon told himself, he was going to put a stop to it. This really was the last time he was going to put up with searching for the little gremlin. Suddenly he found himself on the ground next to Mahaado, who was rubbing his head. 'Guess I should be paying a little more attention to where I'm going.' He thought to himself.

"Sorry, Simon." Mahaado said, getting up and brushing himself off.

"No, no it's fine. But have you seen the prince anywhere?" Simon said, slowly getting up himself.

"Well, if I did that would defeat the purpose." Mahaado laughed, "He asked me to play hide and seek with him. I'm it."

"Did you check for him in the pots?" Simon laughed; he couldn't see how finding Atemu could ever really be a challenge.

"Heh. He would never hide in them, it's so obvious anyone could find him." That comment managed to wipe the smile off Simon's face, "He's actually really good at hiding. Probably because he's so small he could fit almost anywhere." With that, Mahaado walked off, and Simon had been so distracted he'd forgotten to tell him that Atemu was supposed to be in his lessons. He let out a sigh, the prince would turn up eventually, and then he was going to give him a piece of his mind. He hoped.

Atemu was sitting in the palace courtyard. He was playing with a new toy his father had given to him. He'd found it in his chamber, and his father had told him he could keep it. He fingered one of the golden pieces in his hand, and then placed it back in the box. It was a puzzle, a very difficult puzzle for that matter, and he was having very little luck with it. He decided to try another time, and put the lid back on the box just as Mahaado entered the courtyard.

"Where have you been? You're the one who wanted to play hide and seek." Mahaado stated, he obviously had still been looking for him; Atemu had thought he'd given up.

"You were taking too long, so I just stopped."

"Where were you hiding, anyway?"

"In one of the pots." Atemu replied, smiling smugly. He was proud to have been able to outsmart a "big kid."

Mahaado grunted. Simon had actually been right. He was never going to be able to live that one down. "Oh yeah. Atemu, I think Simon was looking for you."

"Oops. I was supposed to be having a lesson today. I forgot." Atemu got up and for the door, running smack into Simon. Simon grunted and lifted himself off the floor for the second time that day. He realized it had been the prince who'd knocked him over, and opened his mouth to comment on his tardiness, but was cut off."

"I'm really sorry I didn't mean to be late for my lesson today but I was playing hide and seek and I forgot!" Atemu hung his head down. He really did feel bad for Simon because he always caused so much trouble by hiding. He was finally going to be good today and he'd messed up. Now, he figured, Simon was going to be really mad. His eyes started to brim with tears. Simon got one look at the prince's upset face and he melted. Once again, he had failed to put the young prince in his place. But, he had said he'd meant to be on time for the lesson.

Atemu's lesson consisted mainly of practicing the summoning of monsters. He was getting it down pretty well, he'd managed to summon a winged dragon, guardian of the fortress, which Simon had told him was a lot for someone his age. Simon was quite impressed with his success. Atemu, however, was not satisfied.

"Simon, when am I going to learn how to summon my ka monster?" He asked.

"That, my prince, is something I cannot teach you. That will happen naturally, when the time is right. You're still much too young, I doubt your ka monster is ready to show itself yet."

Atemu frowned. He was a whole five years old, how could Simon say he wasn't old enough? 'Well, if he won't teach me how, then I'll just find a way to do it without his help.' Atemu concluded to himself.

Dinner that night went the same as always. Akunamukanon sat at the head of the table with Atemu next to him. Atemu couldn't sit next to Seto or Mahaado, he never could, because he was higher than they were, and it just wasn't their place sitting next to him. He was always greatly annoyed by that.

Akunadin, who was sitting on Atemu's other side, was seemingly in quite the bad mood. It wasn't unusual, Akunadin was a naturally grumpy person, but he was especially mad tonight. His conversation with the pharaoh that afternoon hadn't gone well at all, not that he'd expected it to. Of course, his brother had grown suspicious of him during the day. He'd made sure the prince's food was checked an extra time, not that Akunadin would ever try something as petty as poison. No, he had something much bigger planned for the prince, and for the other six millennium items.

Atemu went on eating his dinner peacefully, no idea what his uncle had in store for him. Akunadin knew his plan was absolutely fool proof; of course, being arrogant ran deep in his half of the family.

* * *

Akunamukanon sat at his desk that night, finishing some last minute business in the candlelight. He got little work done, however, because he was worried about what his brother had said to him. Did he really think Atemu was a threat? Or did he just use that story to try and get rid of him? But, what if Atemu really did become the danger Akunadin had claimed? He shook his head. How could he think that about his only son? He'd need to spend a little less time with his younger brother in the days to come, he concluded. And he'd need to make sure that Atemu did as well, Akunadin wasn't going to lay a finger on Atemu as long as Akunamukanon could help it. Of course, what Akunamukanon didn't know was that his brother had no intention of doing anything to Atemu himself.

The door flew open and two guards entered the room. Akunamukanon got to his feet on impulse. Knowing that the guards would very likely be forcing him to leave to a safer location. No one just entered the pharaoh's chamber like that unless it was an emergency.

"What's wrong?" He asked, a hint of demanding in his voice.

"We've reason to believe there are intruders in the palace, my lord, you need to leave, it's no longer safe here." One of the guards told him.

"That's impossible," the pharaoh retorted, "this palace is nearly impenetrable."

"If I may, my lord, they may have received help from someone inside the palace walls." The other said. Akunamukanon froze. He wouldn't? _Would _he? Akunamukanon wasn't really sure, but definitely didn't want to take the chance.

"Where's Atemu?" He demanded. The guards paused, and Akunamukanon knew exactly what was coming. "He's already gone, my lord." The pharaoh rushed for the door, but the guards stopped him. "It's not safe, my lord. You must come with us, we already have half our men searching for the prince, they will find him and bring him back to you soon."

* * *

Atemu let out a small whimper. He was scared. A man had come into his room that night and taken him to this strange house. He didn't know where he was, and he didn't like it. It was very dark, and the two men there, one of whom the one that had brought him to this place, were just as scary. He choked on a sob.

"Would you make that kid shut up already?" One of the men yelled. "All this whining is giving me a headache.

"You know the rules," Atemu's first capture replied, "We're not supposed to do anything to him until his rescuers come for him." His voice, Atemu notice, was much scarier than the other man's. Everything about him was scarier, his voice was very deep, and he seemed to boom when he talked. And he was giant, at least twice the size of Atemu's father, and much more muscular.

"Can't you at least give him some to shut him up? He hasn't stop crying since you brought him here."

"Well, I don't see why not. As long as we don't kill him, right?" The large man said; it seemed like there was a hint of amusement in his voice. This only managed to scare Atemu even more, and cause him to cry that much harder, much to the obvious annoyance of the other man. Suddenly, he felt the back of the large man's hand hit him across the face. He squealed in pain, but bit down hard on the man's arm as he pulled it away, and he yelled a strange word that Atemu had never heard before.

"Where's my daddy?" Atemu demanded. He decided that if he wanted to get out of here he had to act brave, like a pharaoh. Seto had said he could do it, after all.

"Oh don't worry," he answered, rubbing his arm, which was now bleeding, "Your father ought to be here real soon." The other man started to laugh.

* * *

Akunamukanon sat in one of the palace's hideaways with the two guards. He was getting rather impatient. What was taking them so long to find Atemu? His son's life was at stake here! Then, Simon entered, followed by another one of the guards, who was leading a man the pharaoh didn't recognize.

"We caught one of the intruders. He may know where the prince is." The third guard said.

"Yeah, I know where they took him, but why should I tell?" Akunamukanon sighed. Things like this ALWAYS went the same way. But that didn't matter now; all that mattered was getting back Atemu. So, he nodded to the guard who gave their prisoner a little "persuasion." As expected, he gave in fairly easily and told them where the prince had been taken. The pharaoh promptly left the room, obviously intent on getting his son back. The man snickered inaudibly; they had taken the bait.

The pharaoh, along with Simon and two of his other priests, headed for the location Atemu's captures had taken him to. No one really wanted the pharaoh to go, it was too dangerous, but he insisted, and the priests knew better than to argue with Akunamukanon when he was angry. Atemu sat, diligently trying to wriggle himself free of his ties, but to no accord. The scrawnier man laughed at his futile attempts to free himself, while the larger one wasn't too amused; he was rubbing his arm where Atemu had bitten him earlier, it was still bleeding.

They heard the front door slam open and the scrawny man went to greet their "visitor," composing himself before doing so. The smile returned to the larger mans face, a fact that Atemu didn't particularly like, and he grabbed a knife off of a nearby table. He wrapped his arm around Atemu's neck and lifted him up, but this time Atemu didn't dare bite him with the pending threat of the knife in his other hand. He walked out into the front room, chuckling at the look of horror of the pharaoh's face. Atemu was quivering in fear again, eyes clamped tightly shut. The man held his knife up to Atemu's throat. He laughed again; he really enjoyed watching the pharaoh squirm like he was.

"What do you want?" Akunamukanon demanded. He knew there was always some material reason for taking a hostage. Atemu realized that he recognized that voice. He opened his eyes to see his father and three of the priests.

"Daddy!" he yelled, but winced as the man tightened the grip around his neck.

"We don't want too much," the other man stated. He seemed to be the brains of the operation, whilst the one who had Atemu was the muscle, "just the seven millennium items, a small price to pay for the life of your only son, don't you think?" Akunamukanon knew he was being sarcastic. The millennium items were his court's source of power. Atemu's life, however, was a million times more important to him. Simon knew what the pharaoh was thinking, and seriously hoped he would use his head, and not be blinded by the worry he saw building up in his king. It was true that they must save Atemu, but just handing over the millennium items to these thugs wasn't the way to do it. Did they want the power of the items? Or did they want to sell them and make a quick profit? Either way they could end up in the wrong hands, which would be catastrophic.

The pharaoh looked at Atemu; he was sobbing now. He saw a trickle of blood run down his son's neck. "Come now. We don't have all day, are you willing to sacrifice a little gold to save your son or not?" The large man pushed his knife a little deeper still into Atemu's throat, and Akunamukanon was about to agree; afraid he didn't have time to save his son any other way, when the room was filled with a blinding light emanating from Atemu's body.

The light faded, and a seventh figure now occupied the room. This one, however, was not a human. It was a shadow monster, Atemu's ka monster. He looked fairly human; he had the build of a teenager, which is quite old for the reflection of a five-year-old's soul. His ebony hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, his sharp, crimson eyes shone menacingly, glaring at the man who dared to hurt his master. He wore the garb of a warrior, and in his sheath was the hilt of a sword. When he unsheathed it a blade of fiery black energy was formed. He lunged at the large man, stabbing him in the neck, doing to him what he had tried to do to Atemu. He quickly did the same to the other man, not hesitating once as he shot his blade right through his stomach. Once the threat was taken care of he turned to Atemu. Atemu felt like he should be scared, but he wasn't. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that it was all right, that he was safe now. He looked closer and realized that the creature that had looked at those men with such horrible malice was smiling at him.

The pharaoh and his priests merely watched in awe as his son's ka monster obliterated two men in a matter of seconds. And then they just stood there, staring at each other. Atemu seemed confused; did he not know that this creature was his ka monster? It was possible; he'd never summoned it before. How on Earth he'd managed to summon this soon eluded them all. Then, almost as quickly as it had shown up, the monster disappeared, at the same time Atemu seemed to become dizzy; he swayed a little, then passed out onto the floor. Akunamukanon scooped him up into his arms, examining his neck where the blade had cut into him. It was still bleeding; they'd need to get him home to one of the healers quickly.

"He must have passed out from the strain of sustaining his ka monster for so long. Though I still can't believe he managed to do so in the first place." Simon said, as they turned to leave.

"Yes, well we'll worry about that later. For now, let's just get him back to the palace and into bed." Akunamukanon said.

* * *

Well, there it is! Hope you enjoyed, please R&R!


	4. Introducing Kekewey

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

To answer some reviewers questions:

Anonymous: In the anime, yes Mahaado has brown hair, but in the manga it's blonde. And I wrote this after seeing a picture of Mahaado in the manga and before seeing him in the anime. So As far as I knew at the time it was blonde, and since that's the way Kazuki Takahashi originally intended him to be, I decided not to fix it. They change Mana's hair to brown as well, only I think she looks much cooler as a blonde.

Kate: Bakura will pro'lly be in this fic later on, but it won't be for a while. And they weren't ever really friends, so I don't think I'm going to make them friends, since it wouldn't fit in right.

DMoS13: The identity of Atemu's ka monster will be revealed in this chapter, but it won't be anything you've ever heard of because I made it up. Since people could summon their ka monsters without using a tablet, tablets weren't usually made of them, and therefore never had cards based on them. Most of the characters new ka monsters that were not previously introduced, but since Atemu's was never revealed in the show I decided to create one. The few exceptions of this would be Mahaado and Mana, who fused with their ka monsters, and people who had their soul monsters extracted from their bodies(which happens several times.)

And thanks to all my other reviewers: Pharaoh Atemu's Angel, Gotsdahotts4yamibakura, Caeli Et Terra, cwthewolf and nightmare magician.

**Chapter 3**

Atemu woke up and blinked. He was in his own bed again. Had everything that had happened to him the night before been a dream? He felt his neck, nope definitely not a dream. It still stung pretty badly, and someone had bandaged it up. But what about that shadow monster? It had saved his life, but why? Was it his ka monster? It seemed to know him, and it had protected _him_. And for some reason, Atemu found like he knew him, liked he met him many times before. He knew, of course, that he'd never really even seen the monster.

A young woman Atemu recognized as one of the palace slaves entered the room. She was carrying a tray of food. She looked at Atemu and smiled.

"Oh good, you're awake. Here, I brought your lunch for you." She placed the tray down on his bedside table and bowed before turning to leave. Atemu was happy to have food because Gods, was he hungry. He began to gorge himself. Within minutes every last bit of the food was gone. He sighed and fell back onto the bed. He was still awfully tired, although he didn't really know why. He curled up under the thin covers of his bed and was just about to go to sleep as Simon entered the room. He grunted; he felt like he could just go to sleep forever, and Simon was interrupting that.

"Good morning, sunshine," Simon said in a voice that sounded a little too happy to Atemu, "How are you?"

"Tired." Atemu said dimly.

"Well, that's to be expected after you summoned your ka monster for the first time. Especially where your mind is still so young, and you only just learned to summon shadow monsters in general. So, what was his name?"

"It's Kekewey (1), I think. But I'm not sure how I know."

"Well, he told you of course! Your ka monster can communicate with you without words, he's a part of you, after all." So it had been Kekewey who had been talking to him. At least he knew he wasn't going crazy.

"I'll leave you to get some rest now. Your going to need it, since starting tomorrow you have to learn how to summon him on purpose." At that Simon left and Atemu fell asleep almost instantly.

If summoning his ka monster accidentally had taken a lot out of Atemu, doing so intentionally was seemingly impossible. He hit his knees again, after trying and failing for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. He got up and stumbled a little, falling down again. He was starting to get very dizzy.

"Let's leave it at that for today. I think you need a rest." Simon said, helping Atemu to his feet.

"No! I can do it, I know I can! Just let me try again." Atemu pleaded. Giving up had never been one of his strong points.

"My prince, you're going to exhaust yourself again if you overdo it."

"Let him continue, Simon." Akunamukanon, who had come to observe Atemu's lesson, said.

"Alright, my lord. Now Atemu, you know what to do by now, so just try again."

Atemu concentrated all of his energy on the part of his soul that contained his ka monster. He refused to fail this time; he was going to prove to Simon that he wasn't too young. He felt his knees buckling again, but he wasn't going to fall. Not this time. He kept his legs as strong as he could, although he could feel them shaking under the strain. Suddenly, he felt his legs loosen, and the strain on his mind faded. He felt something different in his mind now, a pulsating sensation, like a heartbeat. He opened his eyes and found his ka monster standing in front of him once again. A triumphant smirked adorned his face. He'd proven Simon wrong, just like he knew he would. He was always right, after all.

"Heh…looks like you did it after all." Simon smiled; somehow, he wasn't the least bit surprised by Atemu's achievement.

"Yup! I told you I wasn't too little."

"And you were right, as usual." Simon added sarcastically. Atemu failed to notice the tone, however, and smiled proudly. But, he was exhausted from the stress on the day's lesson, so he called his ka monster back into his mind.

"You're done for the day now, you're dismissed." Simon told him, and Atemu left, yawning as he did so.

After his lesson Atemu sat on his bed working on his millennium puzzle. He was doing pretty well on it now, and he felt like he was about half done. It only got harder as he got closer to finishing it, but he found, oddly, that when he was tired or frustrated from the day's other activities, working on the puzzle was much easier. The pieces seemed to magnet to each other, with him doing hardly anything, tonight. 'Maybe I'll finally finish it tonight!' he thought excitedly, fighting the urge to pass out right then. He was doing so well, he didn't want to stop. But exhaustion soon overcame him and he fell asleep, puzzle in hand.

Atemu had a very peculiar dream that night. It seemed too real to be a dream, however. He was in a ver strange place, it was cold, very cold, and he was surrounded by shadows. The darkness was so thick he could feel it, and the whole place sent chills down his spine. Suddenly, he heard footsteps; he looked in their direction and saw a dark figure approaching him. He looked around, but there was nowhere to hide, just endless shadows.

Much to Atemu's relief, that figure was Kekewey.

"I'm sorry young one, I meant not to frighten you. I merely wish to talk." He said, bowing to his master.

"It's fine, I'm just glad it was you and not someone else. But where are we? This place is creepy."

"We are in the shadow realm. This is where I, as well as the other shadow monsters, reside."

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call your home creepy."

"That doesn't matter. What I've come to speak to you about is that puzzle you have been so diligently working on."

"YEAH! I'm almost done with it now, too!" Atemu stated proudly.

"Just please be careful, young one, completing that puzzle comes with a great responsibility. A responsibility that you may not be ready for."

"What do you mean? What responsibility?"

"That you must find out on your own…"

He awoke the next morning to find himself tucked in to bed and his puzzle sitting on the bedside table, along with breakfast. 'Hmm, I missed breakfast again. I really need to stop sleeping in all the time.' He ate his breakfast then got right back to work on his puzzle. Of course, he quickly found that he was stuck again. No matter what he did, he couldn't get a single piece to fit. After a while of failing to accomplish anything he decided to stop and find Seto. He hadn't told him about summoning his ka monster yet, and he couldn't wait.

Akunamukanon sat at his desk, his brother standing before him. Akunadin seemed far too calm, considering the position he was in. The pharaoh knew he was responsible for the attempt against his son's life, and he knew Akunadin was well aware of this. So why was he so calm?

"Pharaoh, you know I would never allow any harm to befall my nephew."

"That's odd, since the other day you were insisting he be executed."

"I was merely suggesting, and I do still think it's wise, but I would never have acted against your command."

Akunamukanon wasn't buying it. He knew full well that Akunadin would act against his command without hesitation. But still, his brother remained perfectly calm.

"I'll also remind you, my lord, that I have been out on business. You had requested that I speak with the king of Mesopotamia about some negotiations that need to be made. I left immediately after dinner that very evening."

No wonder he had been so calm. Akunamukanon had sent him on that trip to keep him away from Atemu, and he'd used it against him. Now there was no way he'd be able to prove his brother had help the thugs into the palace, and punishing someone without proof was equivalent to asking for a rebellion. Akunamukanon frowned; he'd have to let it pass this time.

"You are dismissed, now get out of my sight!" Akunamukanon ordered.

"Thank you, sire." Akunadin bowed and left the room.

"You summoned your ka monster? Come on, that's impossible." Seto exclaimed. His younger cousin was known for having a vivid imagination, but this was ridiculous.

"Nuh-uh! I really did!"

"OK, prove it."

"Well," Atemu stated, "For one thing he's standing right behind you."

Seto turned around and let out a gasp, falling backwards. Sure enough, the creature that was apparently Atemu's soul monster was standing right behind him; it's ruby eyes glaring at him menacingly.

"Umm…Atemu, are your sure it's safe to let him out?"

"He's fine, just a little mad 'cause you didn't believe me. Besides, he wouldn't do anything unless I told him to."

"Oh, how reassuring." Seto said facetiously. Atemu giggled mischievously. _Are you sure we can trust him, young one? _Kekewey asked Atemu. In this realm they could only talk mentally, and it still had a tendency to make Atemu jump. _Of course we can, he's my cousin and my best friend, he'd never do anything to hurt me. _At that Kekewey relaxed, allowing Seto to do the same.

"So, what's his name?" Seto questioned.

"It's Kekewey."

"Kekewey? Th-that's a great name. He added the latter after seeing a glare return to the monster's features. "Anyway, how strong is he?"

"He's super powerful! You shoulda seen it! He beat up those scary men who kidnap me the other day like it was nothing!"

"But you've never actually seen him fight another shadow monster, right?"

"Nope. Never."

"Well, that's the only way to find out how strong he really is."

"Simon said that I wasn't ready to do that yet though."

"Oh well, guess you're just going to have to wait. It's too bad; I'd like to see him in action, too. I can't wait 'til I summon mine!"

(1)Kekewey means "Darkness" in Egyptian. Creative, ne?

R&R!


	5. A Special New Friend

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own it.

Thanks to my reviewers to chapter 3: Pharaoh Atemu's Angle. Blackcharmgirl, gamelover and Yami-Yugi3.

* * *

Chapter 4 

Atemu smirked proudly. He looked down at the now nearly completed puzzle resting on his bed. He held the final piece in his hand, the eye of Horus gleaming, it was almost as if the piece itself was anticipating it's completion.

But Atemu was hesitant to put it in place. Kekewey's warning was still bothering him a bit; _just please be careful, young one, completing that puzzle comes with a great responsibility. A responsibility that you may not be ready for. _What had he meant? Atemu knew that it had only been a dream, and that he shouldn't worry so much, but at the same time it had been so real. What if Kekewey was right and something went wrong when he put the final piece in? 'Why am I worrying so much?' he asked himself, 'it was just a dream, nothing is going to happen to me, right?' Although he hadn't truly convinced himself it was safe, he gripped the last piece in his hand one final time, and placed it in the center of the puzzle.

The eye of Horus started to glow as the puzzle lifted itself into the air. Atemu stared bewildered at the puzzle. Suddenly the light from the puzzle flooded over him and it felt like something was ripping at his heart. The light was nearly blinding at that point; and shortly after he fell unconscious on the bed.

Atemu's eyes blinked open. Had that really just happened, or had he imagined it? Before it had felt like he was losing a part of his soul, but now he felt fine. His fear had probably just created the whole thing in his head. He looked at his now completed puzzle; still sitting on the bed in the exact spot it had been in before, not floating on thin air.

The door creaked open and Mahaado slowly entered, looking over to the bed as he did so.

"Hey, you're awake. I came in to see if you wanted to play earlier, but you were sleeping so-" he stopped mid-sentence as his eyes wandered to the completed form of the millennium puzzle sitting next to Atemu. He gaped, picking it up to see if it was actually the real thing. "Did you finish this?" he asked Atemu.

"Yep." Atemu smiled proudly.

"All by yourself?" he looked at Atemu, who nodded. "Wow. You know you're really something. You've summoned your ka monster and completed the millennium puzzle, but you still take afternoon naps."

Atemu glared at Mahaado, he'd gone too far that time, "I don't take naps! I just fell asleep is all…"

"Yeah sure." Mahaado laughed. Atemu pounced at him, but he dodged, running out the door and down the hall. Atemu chased after him, giggling.

The two of them sat in the courtyard, gasping for breath from all of the running they'd done. Atemu squinted, blocking his eyes from the harsh rays of the sun. He sighed.

"What's wrong?" Mahaado asked, puzzled.

"You know this is the closest I've ever been to being out of the palace, except that time I was kidnapped. And technically this is still inside the palace. I want to see what it's like."

"You're not planning on leaving the palace, are you?"

"Yeah, actually I was. I'm not going to go far, I just want to explore a little."

"BUT YOU CAN'T! It's way too dangerous…"

"That's what everyone says. But I don't care, I can take care of myself." He left before Mahaado had time to say anything else to him.

When Atemu awoke the next morning he had his whole plan perfectly laid out. During his years exploring the palace he'd found every secret passage in the whole place, even some his father didn't know about. Those were his ticket out because they would not be guarded. All he had to do was get to one without anyone following him. The only problem was that now Mahaado knew about his leaving. He figured Mahaado may help him or even want to come with him, but he didn't realize Mahaado wouldn't approve. Now he was probably going to be extra suspicious today, which meant Atemu just had to make sure he avoided Mahaado.

Atemu got dressed as quickly as he could. The faster he got up and out, the fewer people who would be awake to get in the way. He walked over to the dresser and picked up his golden headdress. He looked at it and his other jewelry, then put it back down. He figured it would be best not to draw so much attention to him. He still, however, put on the millennium puzzle, because he found that he felt awkward when he wasn't wearing it.

He made his way down the hall towards his chosen escape route with no trouble. He didn't run into a single person, and quickly approached the exit. He slowly opened it, checking for any guards that may be lingering in the area. Once the coast was clear he made his way out into the bright morning sun.

Mahaado was walking down the hall contemplating what the prince had said to him yesterday. Would he really leave the palace unprotected? After everything that had happened to him, especially more recent events, Mahaado assumed he would know better. But he'd seemed so positive, not to mention self-confident, the day before. Would the prince heed his warning and stay in the palace, or would he leave anyway? Should he have said something to the pharaoh about the prince's planned agenda? These questioned were running through his head as he saw Simon walking towards him down the hall. He looked rather perturbed, and was mumbling to himself. Mahaado's heart seemed to drop right to the pit of his stomach then, because he knew exactly why Simon was angry.

"C-can't find the prince again?" Mahaado asked, praying to Ra that he was wrong.

"Yes, as usual," Simon answered dully, "As a matter-of-fact no one has seen him this morning. Do you have any idea where he might have run off to?"

"Unfortunately, I think I know exactly where he is." He knew he should have said something sooner, now he was probably going to be blamed for allowing Atemu to run off.

"That's not unfortunate, it makes my life a whole lot easier." Simon replied, but the worried look on Mahaado's face was starting to make him feel uneasy.

"W-well, yesterday the prince and I were talking and he mentioned something about wanting to leave the palace…"

"WHAT? Why didn't you stop him?"

"I tried, but the fact is once he's set his mind to something there isn't really much stopping him."

"That's very true, but we'd better go and find him before the pharaoh finds out he's gone."

Atemu wandered the streets of Egypt, eyes wide with awe. There was so much going on, so many new things for him to intake. Merchants were selling their goods, shouting and waving their arms to attract the attention of passerbies. The crowds were huge, making it almost impossible to move. Well, it was impossible for a full-grown person, but Atemu had little trouble squeezing his way through the people. He found his way to a big tree and sat under it, watching all the goings on of the busy city. Particularly he watched a group of kids who looked about his age playing a game with a ball and sticks. One of the boys noticed him watching, and walked over to him. His hair was a vibrant blonde that Atemu had never seen before and his brown eyes smiled as much as his mouth did.

"Hey. I saw ya watchin' us and I was wonderin' if ya wanted to play, too?"

"Sure, but I've never played before you're going to have to show me how."

"You've neva played hockey before!? Well, don't worry it's easy. By the way, my name's Jou."

"I'm Atemu."

"Atemu, huh? That sounds kinda familiar…oh well. Let's play, come on!"

Mahaado and Simon were searching every crevice of the city for the young prince. They knew him, and they knew by now he could be anywhere. They just hoped he hadn't found his way into a different country yet.

Mahaado saw a group of children playing a game and didn't think much of it. He started to walk by intent on continuing his search, but he stopped. Looking closer he let out a short cheer.

"Simon! I found him." He called; motioning towards the group of children as Simon came running over.

"Wonderful! But are you sure he's over there?"

"You mean you wouldn't recognize that hair from a mile away?"

"You're right, let's go."

Atemu giggled happily. He'd made a lot of great friends in such a short time. For the first time he was playing a game with kids his age. For the first time he had real friends. He liked playing with the other boys in the palace, but he sometimes wondered if they only played with him because he was the prince. His enjoyment was short-lived, however, when he looked up and saw Mahaado and Simon coming his way.

"Uh-oh." He gasped.

"What' wrong?" Jou questioned, looking in the same direction, but not recognizing they're visitors as a threat. Atemu lowered his head, he knew they'd already seen him, but he was hoping maybe they'd just keep on going.

"I can't believe you actually ran off, you little doofus." Mahaado said playfully.

"I'm sorry." Atemu nearly cried.

"Hey, it's alright I was only kidding."

"You mean I'm not in trouble?"

"Not as long as you don't tell your father what happened." Mahaado answered, although he knew that if the pharaoh ever found out it wasn't the prince who would be in trouble.

"Then I guess we'd better get back to the palace before he finds out I'm gone." Atemu replied sadly, looking at all of his new friends continuing the game. Mahaado nodded. "Bye, Jou." Atemu said, starting to walk back towards the palace with Mahaado.

"See ya' later, Atemu!" Jou yelled, waving to his new friend. Atemu waved back with a sigh, he wasn't sure if he ever really would see Jou again. He decided he would try to come and visit again some time.

TBC

* * *

A/N: There you have it folks, Chapter 4. I know Jou doesn't really have an Egyptian counter-part, but I just couldn't resist putting him in here, He's just too great a character. I couldn't resist giving him the Brooklyn accent either, so what if he's supposed to be in a time before Brooklyn existed? Anyway, Coming up in chapter five is a big change, but until then R&R. Ohkami 


	6. A Not So Happy Birthday

Here is it, the 5th chaper.

Disclaimer: No own, no sue.

Review Replies:

**Game Lover: **That was actually the sealing of Atemu's soul into the millennium puzzle. It's very different than how it's supposed to happen, but since I don't intend on putting the character that caused the sealing of Atemu's soul into this story, I couldn't really follow the story. I didn't want to make it happen when he was so little, but the only other way that really seemed to make sense was having it get sealed when he solved the puzzle.

**Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: **I'm glad you liked it! There'll be quite a few more visits to the "outside world" for you throughout the story…

**Dmos13: **Jounouchi's just plain irresistible. I hope this update was a little faster for you, and I hope to be able to continue updating a little faster. The last update did take me a long time.

**Chosen Duos: **Sorry about the grammar mistakes, I'll try to be more careful about that in the future. And I'm not sure what you mean by "easier to read." Did you think my paragraphs were too big or something?

* * *

Chapter 5 

Sword collided with lance as the two monsters clashed. Atemu watched, knowing the battle wouldn't be lasting much longer. He'd fought Simon enough times by now to know that he could easily beat him, but the old man insisted that it was good training. He didn't quite understand how fighting someone weaker than you over and over again was good training, but complied anyway.

Kekewey lunged at Gaia ready to deal the finishing blow. Breaking through his defenses easily this time, he did jut that. Atemu had won, again. He nodded to his ka monster giving him a mental "thanks" before he returned to the shadow realm to rest.

"Oho. Defeated again." Simon said, pulling himself up from the floor. "But one does learn more from his defeats than his victories." _Then why do you always make me fight you if you know I'll win? _Atemu thought dully. After all, today was his tenth birthday, and there were other things he'd rather be doing.

Come to think of it, this was the worst birthday of his life. Like any other he'd been swarmed all day with presents, special treatment and basically a lot of extra attention he didn't particularly want. But this birthday was different for one particular reason: his father. He'd taken ill about a week before and well, so far he wasn't much better. And Akunadin seemed to be extremely interested in the pharaoh's health, a fact that thoroughly worried Atemu.

Walking down the hall brought another slew of people shouting "happy birthday" and offering various other niceties. Atemu could barely stand it. _That's it. I'm going for a walk._ He thought, heading towards the front gates of the palace.

"You know, there just trying to be nice to you." The voice came from behind Atemu.

"Well, Seto, sometimes I think niceness has its limits. I don't care if it's my birthday, there are other, much more important things they could be worrying about right now." He said, turning around to his cousin.

"Still worried about your father?" Atemu didn't reply. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine. Oh, and if you're going to leave the palace please-"

"I know, take a bodyguard." _Yeah right. _Atemu turned around and continued toward his destination.

Atemu sighed. Jou was talking to him again, but he wasn't listening. Simon had told him time and again that if he wanted to be a good pharaoh he needed to work on his listening skills. Atemu had no intention of becoming pharaoh anytime soon, however, and the clouds had suddenly become quite interesting.

"Ya' know what I mean?" Jou asked, finishing his story.

"Uh, yeah." Atemu agreed, although he wasn't sure what it was he'd agreed to.

"Hey bud, are you alright? You seem kind of down today."

"It's my Dad, Jou. He hasn't gotten any better."

Atemu had told Jou about him being prince a few years back, under the condition that he didn't tell anyone else. Although most other people could recognize him anyway. So naturally, Jou knew exactly what Atemu was talking about, everyone knew about the pharaoh's illness at this point. At that point just about everyone in the country was talking about it. He also knew that, ra forbid, his father should not make it through his sickness Atemu would have to become pharaoh at the age of ten. And becoming pharaoh was one responsibility his friend had never really wanted.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll be fine. Everyone gets sick once in a while."

"That's exactly what everyone else says."

"Yeah well, that' probably just means it's true. Don't forget, you've got some of the best doctors in Egypt in there healing your father as we speak."

"That's true." Atemu said, but it still didn't help him very much. The moments following the conversation were rather quiet; an unusual situation when one is with Jou. A rather unexpected visitor, however, broke that silence.

"You're going to get me in deep trouble one of these days you know. How am I supposed to do my job if you don't even bother to tell me when you're leaving?" Malenka asked irritatedly, brushing a strand of raven hair out of her face.

"Well-" Atemu began.

"It was a rhetorical question." Malenka added with a sigh. "Do you know how boring life is being the personal bodyguard of a prince who prefers sneaking out of the palace to taking a guard?"

"Was that one rhetorical, too?" she glared at him, "well, I can't help it if I like having a little privacy now and then."

"Now and then?" Malenka retorted, "I don't believe you've ever once willingly taken a bodyguard anywhere. Besides, it's not like I'm going to eavesdrop on your conversations with your little friend there. It's for your safety that I'm here."

"You are absolutely right." Jou said, nodding his head in a fiercly exaggerated manner. Jou had developed a crush on Malenka over the past year, and he never missed a chance to show off when she was around.

"Thank you, at least one of you has some sense." She stated, ignoring Jou's blatantly obvious attempt to impress her. Being eighteen and nearly ten years older than him, she didn't share his feelings for her. She gave him a flirty smile and a wink, mainly because she enjoyed messing with his head, before looking back to Atemu.

"Anyway, I'm not here to argue. I'm here because your father would like to speak with you and asked me to fetch you. So come on, let's go." She grabbed the twine on which the millennium puzzle dangled and dragged him along for a few steps before allowing him to walk on his own.

"Bye, Jou." Atemu yelled back to his friend.

"See ya', buddy."

* * *

Malenka escorted Atemu down the hallway toward the pharaoh's chamber. His father's bedroom was only at the end of the hall, but the walk seemed almost endless to Atemu. He wasn't sure if he was ready to see his father yet. They finally reached his father's chambers, only to find Akunadin standing in front of the door. 

"No one's permitted to see the pharaoh," he snapped, "He's too ill to have any visitors. Especially one's liable to worsen his health." He looked directly at Atemu with this last statement.

"That's funny because the pharaoh personally requested that I bring the prince to him at once." Malenka retorted.

The nerve above Akunadin's eye twitched slightly, but he opened the door for Atemu to enter. Atemu stood frozen to the spot for a moment, afraid to enter. He hadn't visited his father at all since he'd taken ill, which was more than likely the reason that the pharaoh wanted to see him. The truth was, however, that he hadn't been here sooner because he'd been afraid, and he still was. His father was the strongest person he knew; he didn't want to see him in a weak state like this.

"What, are you waiting to let all the germs in Egypt in first?" Akunadin asked impatiently. Atemu knew that his uncle had a fairly good point and that he couldn't wait any longer. He took a deep breath and entered the room. Akunadin quickly slammed the door behind him.

The pharaoh's chambers were dimly lit, and it took Atemu's eyes a moment to adjust. Once he could see properly he slowly approached his father's bed.

"Happy Birthday, son." Akunamukanon's voice was hoarse, and the came out slowly, as if each syllable was a difficult task. His face was pale, and his eyes were dim and unfocused; for the first time he looked old to Atemu. Atemu turned towards the floor, partially because he didn't like he his father in his current state, and partially because he could feel tears forming behind his eyes. He refused to cry in front of his father. Akunamukanon reached up his hand and took hold of Atemu's. Atemu noticed how clammy his skin was.

"My time in this world in coming to a close…"

"No, that's not true. You're going to get better, you'll be fine-"

"Ssh," The pharaoh continued, "It will soon be your turn to continue my legacy. You've trained hard, and you've learned a lot. There's not a doubt in my mind that you're ready. I'm very proud of you." All Atemu could do was shake his head, since most of his energy was concentrated fighting back the imminent tears.

"I love you, Atemu." Atemu felt the grip on his hand lessen and release.

"No…H-he can't be dead. He can't." But the pharaoh was gone. Atemu no longer bothered to fight the tears, and they began to stream down his face. He fell to his knees, completely consumed by sobs.

Akunadin peered through the doorway, a satisfied smirk written on his face.

* * *

"What do you think we should do?" The priest of the millennium scales asked. 

"The boy is only 10, he's much to young to take on the responsibilities of being pharaoh," the priest of the ring answered, "why not make Akunadin step in until the boy is ready? Just as a regent, of course."

"Because I don't trust that man as far as I can throw him." The priestess of the millennium tauk cut in.

"Besides," Simon, the priest of the ankh added, "The prince is very advanced for his age. He's doing exceedingly well in his training and his use of magic. I believe that he's ready to take the thrown. The only question is, is it fair for to him to bestow such a burden on him at this age?"

"What's fair to him doesn't matter. It's what's best for Egypt that's important," The priest of the rod stated, "And what's best for Egypt is making sure that Akunadin does not take the thrown. The others nodded.

"Then it's settled," Simon said sadly, "Atemu starts his duties as the pharaoh tomorrow."

TBC

A/N: GAH! Please don't hate me for this chapter! I know it's sad, but it had to be done, even though I didn't want to do it. And I also realized after I wrote this that I made both of Atemu's parents die on his birthday! I'm such a terrible person…

I'm also sorry about not knowing any of Akunamukanon's priests'/priestess's names besides Simon and Akunadin. They weren't very important, and I don't know if the names are ever even mentioned.

Chibi Atemu: :Big, teary chibi eyes:

Ohkami: awe. :huggles: Please review, it'll make Atemu happy…


	7. Message to readers

Hello everyone

You may have noticed that this is not a new chapter of the fanfiction. You may have also noticed that I have not updated my account in a very long time.

I apologize a lot for this, but consider this an official hiatus of all of my WIP stories on this account. I know this was probably implied by the year plus gaps of time without updates, but I just felt I needed to announce it properly. A lot of you guys have continued to be supportive of my work here, adding it to your favorites and watchlists and PM-ing me despite the extended absence, and I appreciate it a lot, so I didn't want to leave you hanging. I'm sorry that I couldn't offer you a real update for that support, but the truth is I've really fallen away from my activity in the Yuugiou fandom, and honestly looking back at my older writing it is nowhere near up to the level I'm at now (obviously) and it's a little embarrassing for me.

For those of you who want to keep the stories for your favorites and such, I'm leaving the account up with all the stories, but I don't intended to update this one ever again. I've just made a new account to actually start uploading work onto the site again, and if you'd like to check out my newer stuff you can now find it at www. Fanfiction. Net/chosentwilight (you know the drill now, no spaces), but you probably won't see much Yuugiou there. Again, if you just want the stories already posted here, I'm leaving them right where they are. If I ever do work on these again it will be in the form of starting from the beginning and totally rewriting them, and I'll probably do it on my new account, but that's not a guarantee.

So anyway, I apologize for the rather long winded explanation (I have a tendency to do that ;) and thank you all again for the great support you have given me with everything I've worked on.


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